# Lindsay: male or female? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543 "2012-09-12T21:36:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/21 "2012-09-13T02:44:39Z")
Interesting–without reading the OP I too immediately said “female,” because basically everybody I’ve ever known with a name like Lindsay is female and (currently) under about 30. But like a couple of others, when I read it was middle-aged and British I said, 'Oh, wait a minute…maybe it’s male." And now that I think about it, I would have almost exactly the same response with Robin. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/22 "2012-09-13T03:49:48Z")
Or Evelyn or Meredith or Leslie or Ashley or Winifred or Hilary… It always goes one direction. Boy names easily get adopted as girl names. But never in reverse. Never, never, never, with only one known exception: [Sue K. Hicks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_K._Hicks). Because it’s disgraceful for a man to have any feminine attributes, while women get vastly more leeway about taking on masculine attributes. Is there any way to interpret this phenomenon other than that masculinity is valued while femininity is devalued? ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/23 "2012-09-13T04:50:07Z")
Female. The name automatically evokes an image of a preppy girl in her early to mid 20s. The only name I can think of right now where I don’t make an automatic assumption about gender is Jordan. And I guess also Alex. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/24 "2012-09-13T05:12:57Z")
My uncle’s name is Lindsay but I know women with the name as well. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/25 "2012-09-13T06:14:58Z")
I know a male Lindsay (from Scotland) and a female Lindsey (from the USA). I think both are gender neutral. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/26 "2012-09-13T06:27:27Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Is there any way to interpret this phenomenon other than that masculinity is valued while femininity is devalued? Slowly, but surely, the women are reducing the pool of male names to one, emphasizing the fungibility of males and increasing their [expendability](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MenAreTheExpendableGender). Males already commit suicide at a higher rate. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/27 "2012-09-13T10:17:59Z")
First I think male, then I think either a female chav or an American woman or a female American chav (or whatchamacallit, white trash or something). I recently had to email a Lindsay, but it was a Dr so that was easy! 🙂 I guessed man for him though, because he was English, and I was right. I get emails back all the time saying “Dear Mr [my name]”, I’ve sometimes wonder if I should put something in my signature, like Ms? But that’s so weird. Maybe I should just get a PhD too, just to help people out. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/28 "2012-09-13T13:51:49Z")
IME, Britons are much _less_ likely to gender-bend when naming kids than Americans. ---
**Author:** ![highrollinwooded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71c47a/32.png) [@highrollinwooded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/highrollinwooded)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/29 "2012-09-13T13:52:49Z")
My nickname is Lindsey, so I associate it with female. I would be weirded out to hear a male introduced as Lindsey… just my opinion! ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/30 "2012-09-13T13:59:50Z")
Maybe **Lindsaybluth** can help. She is of the female persuasion, but obviously not her real name. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/31 "2012-09-13T14:43:12Z")
I’m sure the suspense was killing you, so I will reveal that the person in question was male. In my experience, Lindsay with an “i” and an “a” is usually male, Lindsey or (especially) Lyndsey is female. Below the age of about 30, though, all bets are off. I went to school with a male Ashley, born in the late 1970s. One of my female friends is married to another male Ashley of a similar age. I reckon they must be the last of the breed, though, as Ashleys nowadays are all irritating American high-school girls. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/32 "2012-09-13T15:08:36Z")
Not only female, but cute and blonde. I don’t think I’ve ever known a Lindsay who was anything but. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/33 "2012-09-13T15:12:14Z")
I feel the name Lindsay has big tits. So, female. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/34 "2012-09-13T15:21:10Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > I feel the name Lindsay has big tits. So, female. Not so of Lindsay Bluth. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/35 "2012-09-13T15:24:23Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Not so of Lindsay Bluth. She doesn’t have big tits or isn’t female? I can’t comment on the former but she assures me she is female. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/36 "2012-09-13T15:24:39Z")
My first “Lindsey” was thate cute lawyer from Wolfram & Hart. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsay_(name)) seems to indiate that alternate spellings do not indicate gender. I once knew a girl named Michael–angels don’t really have gender, do they? And who can forget The Man They Call Jayne? ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/37 "2012-09-13T15:40:40Z")
I’ve always thought of Lindsay as a girl’s name. I always wondered why Lindsey Buckingham had a girl’s name. > [@Taomist](#): > > And Nat is rather masculine, yet that’s MY name, so there ya go. I think of Nat as a nickname for Natalie, which is definitely a female name. I can’t think of a male name which would use Nat for short, except for Nathaniel, but that would more than likely be Nate. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/38 "2012-09-13T15:42:05Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > She doesn’t have big tits or isn’t female? [You tell me.](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xCDbeFM2tqU/TWCUDaBwMjI/AAAAAAAAP4I/ZwqzPJ95lT0/s400/lindsay+bluth.jpg) (Possibly a little NSFW.) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/39 "2012-09-13T15:44:06Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > I once knew a girl named Michael Me too. And let’s not forget the actress Michael Learned. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/40 "2012-09-13T15:48:13Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Not so of Lindsay Bluth. Female like that don’t need no big tits. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543.md?page=3)